The role of OS - Essay Example

Extract of sampleThe role of OS

Some of the most common functionalities of any operating system are mentioned below:
History of Operating Systems starts as early as the first computing machine. It is a subject of great researched and every generation is adding more features to the operating system making them more and more efficient. The modern operating systems can be broadly classified into two categories:
Microsoft Windows is the most common household operating system widely present. Its success mainly is a result of its user interface which is very user friendly. Windows has a graphical user interface which makes it very easy for the user to select options and issue commands. XP was the latest success of the Windows family. The user interacts with the hardware in form of buttons, boxes and images by clicking the mouse. Any layman without any experience working with computers can easily work on GUI based operating systems.
UNIX on the other hand is an operating system which is not GUI based. Users working on UNIX have to remember commands and type the commands to achieve results. Although UNIX is quite popular on the research front, it did not gain wide acceptability because of the lack of a graphical user interface.
There is no well defined fact as to which operati...
There is no well defined fact as to which operating system is better than the other. Every OS has its own disciples and haters. Every commercially available OS has its own pros and cons. Microsoft operating systems are easy to use but are expensive and low on security. Linux and UNIX on the other hand are freely available and extremely secure but lack a user friendly user interface. It depends on the type of the user and his nature of requirements that finally decides which OS would be the best for him.
Answer 2
An Operating System acts an interface between the user and the computer. Although most users would have had some experience with an operating system, it is very difficult to precisely define the purpose of an operating system. This difficulty arrives mainly due to the fact that an operating system performs two basically unrelated functions: Extended Machine and Resource Manager (Tanenbaum, 1987). As an extended machine the operating system assists the architectural components (Instruction Set, Memory, IO) to understand the user input, provides them with their requirements to solve the user problem and give the result back to the user. As a resource manager the Operating System provides the users with a top-down view. The operating System performs the job of controlled and orderly allocation of processors, memory and IO devices among the various tasks that are competing for them.
Based on the above discussion the primary purposes of an Operating System can be enlisted as under:
Process Management: Process is defined as an instance of a program that is currently under execution (Stallings, 2002). A process needs certain resources such as CPU time, memory, files and IO devices to accomplish its tasks. The Operating System is responsible
...Show more

Summary

An Operating System (OS) is an essential part of any computer system. It acts as a medium of communication between the system and the user working on the system. The users of a computer system span a wide range. Users include programmers, creative artists, shoppers, musicians, gamers and many more…

Related Essays

Both are popular although Windows is dominant, but there are quite a few differences between the two systems, many of which can be traced to their origins, usability and their functions. After a brief overview of the history of the two operating systems and mentioning key differences (see also the table below), both are compared in terms of usability and security, and in terms of their support for multimedia.

This program has a lot of impact in the computer industry because it attracts many people to switch their laptop brand from Windows to Apple. This is because of individual needs to play a game in their hectic daily life, or some of them are gamers’ maniac.

Microsoft has maintained the pace of continuous innovations in their Windows operating system (and other) products keeping their pace with the various technology innovations across the world and thus has been proactively meeting the known & emerging business demands in the world.

ow of graphical operating systems used on personal computers, as well as home and business desktops, notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media centers. Windows vista contains a new graphical user interface and a visual style dubbed Windows Aero.
The major difference between the

Security for these records should not be thought of as “after the fact” and will require vigilant and pro-active monitoring of security regardless of the operating system on which they reside.
The records are required to be protected according to the Federal Information

In a CLI, we enter commands for a computer to perform specific tasks. The system waits till the user to press ‘enter’ command to understand that the user has finished entering the command and now he can start

These are discussed in the following paragraphs.
While iPhone has a completely closed operating system, Google has an open system for its Android mobile phone. As both systems have their own strengths and weaknesses, the

e Mac that has only one manufacturer, PC is made and distributed by a number of companies including Microsoft, Sony, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Gateway, Toshiba and Samsung (Ralston & Reilly, 2011). The developments in the Information Technology (IT) have been characterized by a series

These problems lowered the opportunities for future growth of the Palm Company since the external and internal changes adversely affected the operations of the company. By reuniting the two palm groups, which were platform group

5 pages (1250 words)Essay

Get a custom paper writtenby a pro under your requirements!

Win a special DISCOUNT!

Put in your e-mail and click the button with your lucky finger

Your email

YOUR PRIZE:

—

Apply my DISCOUNT

Got a tricky question? Receive an answer from students like you!Try us!

Comments (0)

Rate this paper:

Thank you! Your comment has been sent and will be posted after moderation

Didn't find an essay?

Contact us via Live Chat, call us at +16312120006or send an email to support@studentshare.net